BASEBALL -- While he's been busy throwing spirals on the gridiron this fall, Nick Hibbing has a dream to fire strikes in the Big Leagues someday.

And although he made just six appearances in the spring, the Lakes junior took the first step toward that goal by making a verbal commitment to play college baseball at the University of Iowa.

"I am excited to have the opportunity to play at Iowa," Hibbing said. "I've always wanted to play Big Ten baseball. The Iowa coaches treated me great and gave me an offer that was too hard to turn down. My ultimate goal is to help Iowa get to the College World Series and hopefully someday to pitch in the Major Leagues."

Hibbing, a three-sport athlete and starting quarterback for the Eagles, continued to develop his arm throughout his time in the Lake Villa travel program, as well as with the 18-U Kenosha Indians in the summer.

The hard-throwing right-hander, who has already hit 90 mph on the radar gun, finished with a 1-1 record and a 5.78 ERA in his six appearances as a sophomore call-up late in the season for Lakes. He also struck out an impressive 17 batters in 13 1/3 innings for the NSC Prairie champs.

"Obviously, one of Nick's greatest strengths is his arm strength," Lakes coach Bill Rosencrans said. "But his biggest asset as a pitcher is his competitiveness. Nobody wants to win more than Nick. He looks at each individual at-bat as a battle that he wants to win."

According to the Prep Baseball Report -- which ranks Hibbing No. 14 in the Class of 2011 -- the 6-foot-4, 175-pounder is the first junior from Illinois to verbally commit to a Division I program.

"Coming from Mundelein, we had some very talented players every single year," said Rosencrans, a former assistant with the Mustangs. "And every year, several of them went on to play in college, but I've never heard of anyone committing so soon. He was just pulled up at the end of last season, so it really goes to show how much potential (Iowa) sees in him. Nick's best days are way ahead of him --- and that's the exciting part."

With Hibbing, Travis Vanderwall and last season's ace D.J. Snelten back in the mix, Lakes could field a staff that features three NCAA Division I pitching prospects in 2010.